This chapter should make many of you happy. As I read other fanfics, I notice how I didn't really do their first time much justice. So here it is, in a new light.
25. Past
The months were passing so quickly. Soon it was May 4th again; James's first birthday. They threw a huge party at their house, inviting everyone in the family, as well as Gillian and Luke, and Nick and Mia, along with their daughter Holly, who had been born on Christmas day. It was a quidditch themed party. James was very excited about eating his cake and the picture Harry took of him with cake on his face was priceless. He opened presents next, and was excited about those as well. He got some trains and trucks, as well as a broomstick from Ron and Hermione. He had even gotten a miniature quidditch set, although he wouldn't understand it for a few more months still.
Overall, the party was great, and James had dropped like a fly when the last of the guests had left. They put him to bed and went into their bedroom.
"I got you something," Harry said to Ginny.
"But it's not my birthday," she said, confused.
"I know," Harry chuckled. "But James would not appreciate this as you will, so I am giving it to you."
She took the present and tore the paper off of it. Inside was her "James, Year One" baby book. The book she had forgotten about in the craziness of caring for James. But Harry hadn't. She opened it, speechless.
Inside was each months ultrasound of James. She recognized her handwriting of each caption. She also saw when the handwriting changed, and where Harry began. There were so many pictures.
One of James when he was first born.
Ginny holding him for the first time.
Their first family photo.
His footprints were pressed to the page.
His first feeding. His first bath.
Ginny holding him in the tub with her. "Don't worry," Harry reassured her when she saw this one, of her half naked. "If he ever looks at it, you guys will be fully clothed, sitting on grass."
His first steps.
A lock of his hair.
An entire family photo. A photo of just the three of them.
James snuggling with Snuffles on the floor.
The three of them, sitting upon a brromstick, Harry's arms wrapped around Ginny, who was holding James.
Him with cake on his face.
There was so many pictures, that the entire album was filled. She looked at Harry, unable to form words.
She kissed him instead, long and deep. "You're welcome," he said softly. He also pulled out a new scrapbook that read, "James, Year Two."
"I thought you might want to help with this one," Harry said with a smile.
"Well, it turns out you don't even need my help; the first one came out amazing. But I would love to help you, it will be something special for us to do together."
The summer flew by. The Harpies won the quidditch championship yet again. Ginny was happy that she was able to be such a huge part of this team, and still have a family life. She was relieved that the team was unchanged through the year; no one had taken pregnancy leave or fallen injured or ill. Ginny decided that it was actually kind of stupid to have an all girls team. Eventually, they would want to have kids, and that required taking time off, unlike men, who never needed any time off, if they didn't want any. They were incredibly lucky last year that Mia could finish out the season and Ginny was back in time for playoffs.
After Sunday dinner at the Burrow one November afternoon, James was so exhausted that Harry and Ginny put him to bed in Ron's old room. On their way down the stairs, they stopped and peeked in the door of Ginny's old room. It was just as she had left it. They entered. Everyone in the house was still outside, enjoying the crisp fall air.
"Remember all the times in here," Ginny asked Harry.
"Oh, I definitely remember one of the times," he said with a chuckle.
"Was it a certain someone's birthday?" Ginny asked slyly. She cast protective charms around the room. Harry smiled.
"That is the one," he said. He bent to kiss her. she grabbed around his neck and pulled him ontop of her on the bed.
"It was the night I lost my virginity to you," she whispered.
"And I lost mine to you," Harry whispered back. Ginny felt his hot breath on her neck and shuddered.
"Want to recreate the past?" she asked seductively. That did it.
"Remind me," Harry whispered back.
"You were refusing to give in. And I did this," Ginny kissed his lips. She pulled off his shirt and ran kisses down his stomach. She pulled down his pants and planted two kisses on his head. Harry moaned. Ginny took him into her mouth and Harry pressed her gently to him. His hips shook involuntarily. He pulled her up to him.
"A few well placed kisses. And this is where I gave up trying to stop you," Harry growled, pulling off her dress. He laid her on the bed and traced his fingers through her center. He pushed two gently in and moved them in and out.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked.
"I'm positive about you Harry," Ginny played along, moving her hips in time with his fingers. He pulled them out quickly then, looking at her.
"We didn't bring any potion. We weren't expecting this."
"Well, I won't get pregnant from one time. Besides, would it really be so bad if I did? We have to continue with our family."
To answer, Harry positioned himself at her entrance.
"Tell me if it hurts," he commanded. He pushed in slowly, so slowly. Ginny remembered the pain. Harry was so big. But he was slow and gentle, and gave her plenty of time to be ready.
He kissed her all over when he was finally all the way in.
"Move," she told him, and he did. He rocked them slowly, as slowly as he did that first time. It drove her crazy with want. But at the same time, it was wonderful. She usually preferred the rough pounding, but the slow was a nice change. They moaned each other's names as they came at the same time. Harry rolled off of Ginny.
"That was perfect," he said, pulling her into him.
"Just like our first time," she agreed.
"I can't even tell you how great it is that we were each other's only ones. You were the first person to ever touch me like that. To kiss me there. And I was the first person to touch you, and to be in you. And here we are, again," Harry sighed contentedly, pulling her under his chin.
Shortly after returning downstairs, Kingsley's lynx appeared at the dining room table.
"Harry, Ron, the ministry needs you at the office, immediately," it spoke in Kingsley's voice. The two exchanged looks. Ginny grabbed onto Harry's arm in terror.
"Harry, don't leave me!" she begged.
"I have to honey. Don't be afraid, it could be anything. Just stay here with James, or go back to Hermione's with her. Whatever you do, don't end up alone."
Ron and Harry disapparated out of sight.
"Well, no need to worry," said Molly, with false cheerfulness. Dessert was not the same joyful occasion it was a few moments ago, though.
Eventually, Hermione insisted on returning home. Ginny and James went with her. Ginny let James toddle around the carpet, as Hermione paced in front of the windows.
"Auntie?" James asked. It was just a few months ago that James spoke his first word, Mama. It was followed by Dada, and now he had quite a few words that he knew.
"Yes, dear," Hermione answered, distracted.
"Sad?"
"I'm not sad, James, I'm just worried."
"Mama?"
"Yes, James," Ginny responded, still looking at Hermione.
"Daddy? Uncie?"
"They are on a mission sweetheart. They will be home soon. Why don't you play with your cars?"
James smiled happily as he remembered his cars and started driving them around the room. Ginny walked over to Hermione, who was gazing out the window.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked. "And don't just say you are worried, because I am too, but this is different."
"Ginny, I'm not just worried about Ron. I'm worried about me."
"What's wrong? Maybe I can help."
"I'm pregnant." Ginny looked at her in shock. Then she hugged her.
"That's a good thing," she said.
"It's not," Hermione replied. "I can't do it again."
"You won't have to," Ginny said. "This baby will be fine." Ginny prayed that it would be.
"No, it won't," Hermione said sadly.
"Why," Ginny asked in alarm. "Do you already know…is there something wrong with the pregnancy?"
"No, but it runs in me. It's me that's wrong. I promised myself I would never be pregnant again, not after killing Heidi."
"Hermione," Ginny whispered. "You didn't kill Heidi."
"It was me. In the hospital, my mother visited me alone. She hugged me and told me that she knew what I was going through, that I would be okay. I snapped. I told her she had no idea, no idea of the pain I was in. She didn't know how it felt to lose a child. But she did."
Ginny looked at Hermione in shock. Clearly, this panic ran deeper than just Heidi.
"When she told me the story, I remembered. I was 6 years old, when my parents told me I was getting a baby sister. I was so excited. I arranged my room, so we could share, and I picked out all the dolls that she would be allowed to have. Then, a few months later, they told me she wasn't coming. They said she had to go somewhere else, that she couldn't live with us. I was very sad for a while, but got over it and forgot about it. Until my mother brought it up again. Heather Jane. She was stillborn. My mother decided not to have another kid. She couldn't stand to lose another."
"Oh, Hermione," Ginny said softly, hugging her.
"I had accepted not having kids. I knew you would have enough to share. I could be the Auntie they can run to when they need someone other than their parents. Ron could be the cool Uncle who gets them things their father won't. Then. Well. The Weasley men are the most fertile creatures on earth. We were in the heat of the moment, downstairs. I had no potion, so I told Ron to pull out, but I guess it was too late. And here I am, waiting for the death of my baby."
"Hermione, you don't know that. You don't know that the baby won't live."
"But it happened to my mother. It must run in the family, like heart disease or something."
"But you lived."
"What?"
"Hermione, you lived. Your mother had you. And she was so happy with you. She loved you. You are going to have this baby. It will be healthy. And you and Ron will have to juggle being parents and the cool Auntie and Uncle."
Hermione smiled shakily. "You really think so?"
Ginny nodded firmly.
*AN: Just to let you know, J. said in an interview that Hermione was supposed to have a little sister, but she didn't appear in the first few books, and then it was too late so she was cut. I thought this version of it made Hermione's fears a little more justified, so I'm not just making this up for nothing, and it wasn't my idea to make Hermione have a sibling, just my idea of how her sister was "cut" from the books.
At the ministry, Harry and Ron were staring at Kingsley in shock. Nick and Luke had also been summoned to the meeting. Harry was surprised to see Neville there as well.
Neville had resigned from auror duty and taken the position of Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. He was also the Gryffindor Head of House. He resigned due to the fact the he and Luna had just had twin babies, about 2 months ago. He didn't want to be in such a dangerous line of work. He told Harry that he wanted to remain in the Order, but wanted to provide a stable environment for Frank Xenophilius and Alice Sandra, named after his parents and Luna's. Harry understood, and it often caused him to wonder if he should resign, once his family was large enough that he needed to be around more.
But that was not a consideration was Kingsley told them what was wrong.
"Amycus Carrow has escaped from Azkaban," he told them gravely. "We don't know where he is."
Harry felt a sharp pain in his gut. Amycus, the one who tortured all the students at Hogwarts. Had them practice the Cruciatus curse on kids in detention. He could not be allowed to go free.
"We will be working at all hours to catch him, so prepare yourselves and rest when you can. Nick and Luke, you have the first shift. Harry and Ron will take over tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep."
Harry went with Ron to his house, and brought Ginny and a sleeping James home. He placed James in his crib and joined Ginny in bed.
He snuggled up to her. she was wearing his favorite nightgown.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"Amycus Carrow escaped. But don't worry, we will find him. I won't let anything happen to you or James." Harry whispered.
"Amycus…Carrow…" Ginny whispered.
"What is it?" he asked. She shook her head. Now Harry was really concerned. "Ginny, what happened. Is this about Carrow escaping?" he felt her shudder at the name. He stopped short. No…it couldn't be.
"Ginny. What did he do to you?" Harry asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
Ginny just shook her head and buried her face in Harry's chest.
"Ginny, you have to talk to me," Harry said, gentler. He pulled her face to look at him. Her eyes still had tears in them, and there were a few trails down her cheeks where they had escaped.
"Ginny," Harry pleaded.
"I never wanted to tell you," she whispered. "I thought I could forget it, once they were locked up. But then, tonight, he isn't locked up. Whenever he would see me in the hallway, or whenever he felt the need I guess, he would pull me into an empty classroom for punishment."
"What kind of punishment?" Harry asked, trying to keep his anger in check.
"He would hit be, beat me. Then he would tie me down and leave me there for hours. he would threaten my family, and tell me all the horrible things he would do to them before he would kill them." Ginny was openly crying now.
"Ginny, why did you never tell me. I know that the punishments were severe, but I had no idea that they abused for the sake of abuse. And the mental abuse they put you through... I promise, I swear I won't rest until that man is caught. And he will be punished worse than Azkaban when he is."
"Thank you," Ginny whispered.
The next morning, Harry left early to resume the hunt. They thought they might have found a trail leading to Amycus.
Ginny and James played outside for a while. Snuffles happily chased James around on his toy broomstick. Soon, James was ready for a nap. Ginny gathered his sleepy body in her arms and found Padfoot, his stuffed dog. James cuddled him close and was out as soon as Ginny laid him in his bed.
Ginny looked at him lovingly. She turned to walk out of the room, but stopped with a gasp. Standing in the doorway was Amycus Carrow. He was wearing the Azkaban jumpsuit, and looked like hell.
"Well, hello, my fiery bitch," he said in his creepy voice, a deranged smile across his face.
"No," Ginny whispered. She glanced behind her to see James still sleeping soundly.
"What to do…what to do," Amycus teased.
Ginny was wracking her brain, trying to find a way to stall time. Her wand was on the table in the hall. She could dash out and grab it, but that would leave James unprotected. She couldn't leave him.
"Harry will be home any minute," she said confidently.
"Oh no he won't" Amycus said with an evil laugh. "I already took care of him."
Ginny felt her insides crumble. No. NO! Not Harry!
"What did you do to him!" she demanded.
"Oh, let's just say he is never going to come to your rescue. I will do Lord Voldemorts bidding, and extinguish the Potter line." Amycus raised his wand, and Ginny back up to the crib, trying to shield James as best she goes.
'He can't,' she thought. 'I will make the same sacrifice Lily Potter did.' She thought sadly of the life James would have without her and Harry. It wouldn't be anything like Harry's upbringing, though. Hermione and Ron would treat him like their own son. He would have a new sibling. He would be fine. She looked determinedly at Amycus. She would not let him hurt James.